A. Field of the Invention
The embodiments of the present invention relate to a cart, and more particularly, the embodiments of the present invention relate to a cart for collecting tennis balls on the ground when manually pushed by a user and for storing the tennis balls once collected.
B. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous innovations for tennis ball throwers and retrievers have been provided in the prior art, which will be described below in chronological order to show advancement in the art, and which are incorporated in their entirety herein by reference thereto. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, nevertheless, they differ from the present invention.
(1) U.S. Pat. No. 3,485,398 to Offner.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,485,398—issued to Offner on Dec. 23, 1969 in U.S. class 414 and subclass 440—teaches a tennis ball pick-up and collecting machine. A conventional hand-pushed lawn mower, including side frames, belts reel assembly, wheels, rollers, cutter bar, and handle, is modified by removing the cutter bar and replacing it by a tennis ball guide plate. The guide plate includes a front portion located near ground level between the reel assembly and roller, and a rear portion extending from the front portion, over the roller to a rearward location, and receiving a tennis ball collecting box thereon. A repeller plate is arranged with respect to a top, rear portion of the reel assembly for intercepting and redirecting the flow of air propelled around the outside of the reel assembly when the reel assembly is caused to rotate.
(2) U.S. Pat. No. 3,777,732 to Holloway et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,777,732—issued to Holloway et al. on Dec. 11, 1973 in U.S. class 124 and subclass 78—teaches a ball throwing machine that ejects tennis balls in regular sequence and at a controlled velocity to simulate tennis service from an opponent during practice sessions. The machine is adapted to intermittently vary the vertical and horizontal angles of ball ejection thereby providing game-like situations. An anti-all jamming device is located in the base of a ball hopper. The machine has structure for permitting rotation of the subframe about a vertical axis to vary the horizontal angle of discharge of a projectile. As an alternate method for varying the horizontal angle of discharge of a projectile, the subframe may be oscillated about a vertical axis.
(3) U.S. Pat. No. 3,913,552 to Yarer et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,913,552—issued to Yarer et al. on Oct. 21, 1975 in U.S. class 124 and subclass 78—teaches a tennis ball projecting machine for ejecting tennis balls in regular sequence and at a controlled velocity to simulate tennis service or return from an opponent during learning or practice sessions. The apparatus is directed to variation of the vertical and horizontal angles of ball ejection thereby providing game-like situations. The apparatus has two motor driven wheels mounted on the lower end of a vertical post member. To the upper end of the post member is attached members to rotate the motor mount and to elevate the wheels to vary the vertical trajectory of an object being projected.
(4) U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,695 to Ray.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,695—issued to Ray on May 17, 1983 in U.S. class 280 and subclass 47.26—teaches a ball picker dolly for retrieving tennis balls or the like, which includes a carriage having a shaft, a horizontal axle orthogonally attached to the lower end of the shaft, and apparatus mounted on the axle for votively supporting the carriage on a horizontal surface. Baskets or hoppers of varying configurations and sizes can be secured to the dolly by utilizing adjustable brackets. The various hoppers have griddled bottoms including a plurality of filiform members spaced-apart to define slot openings dimensioned to admit tennis balls forcibly pushed therethrough. At least one elongated horizontal bracket has spatially disposed pairs of openings thereon, and is slidably engageable on the shaft. Ancillary securing apparatus includes U-shaped prongs dimensioned to pass through spatially disposed openings in the bracket, mating with pairs of openings in either a horizontal or a vertical axis of the bracket. Yet another slidably engageable bracket is provided at the lower end of the shaft, which helps support the basket, and stabilizes the lower part of a basket to the shaft. Both brackets are tightened down by threaded bolts that pass through the brackets to impinge upon the shaft.
(5) U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,544 to Stotts.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,544—issued to Stotts on Apr. 5, 1988 in U.S. class 414 and subclass 440—teaches a portable ball retriever, holder, and carrier apparatus operable to pick-up and retrieve ball members from a support surface, hold the ball members in a container member in an elevated condition, and be folded into a compact condition for transport and/or storage. The portable ball retriever, holder, and carrier apparatus includes a main support frame assembly; a support and power drive assembly operable to provide mechanical power drive for a ball member retrieving function, a ball pick-up assembly having a rotatable cylinder member to pick-up the ball members and carry same upwardly and laterally, a ball container assembly mounted on the main support frame assembly to twelve ball members therein, and an actuator handle assembly that is movable to various positions. The ball pick-up assembly includes a main retriever housing having a rotatable pick-up cylinder assembly therein. The pick-up cylinder assembly includes a deformable cylinder member operable to receive ball members thereagainst, and being deformed to grasp the ball members for subsequent movement upwardly and laterally. The ball container assembly includes a container member that is movable from a horizontal position to receive ball members therein to an elevated holder condition position to hold the ball members for usage. The actuator handle assembly is provided with a collapsible actuator handle member for use in an extended rigid position for pushing the entire carrier apparatus, and foldable into a compact position over the ball container assembly for storage and transport purposes.
(6) U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,786 to Bellettini et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,786—issued to Bellettini et al. on Oct. 15, 1991 in U.S. class 473 and subclass 474—teaches a ball retriever using hook and mesh components in engaging relationship to one another; application of the two components in any fashion to retrieve a tennis ball. One being a racket with a section of hook material attached at the butt of the handle. Secondly, fitting a covering of intermeshing material around a tennis ball. When the butt of the racket is put in contact with a tennis ball having the mesh covering, the ball will fasten temporarily to the racket.
(7) U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,100 to Frankel.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,100—issued to Frankel on Sep. 15, 1992 in U.S. class 294 and subclass 19.2—teaches a ball retrieval device including a main body, and a ball collection basket for storing retrieved balls. The basket is shaped substantially as a slotted box. Only a single basket opening, located in a forward peripheral portion of the basket, has a width greater than the diameter of a ball. The collection basket is removably attached to the main body using a pair of upward-turned hooked bracket portions that extend through mesh openings in the basket and allow the basket to remain substantially horizontal when the basket is attached to or removed from the main body. Arms that extend from the main body are provided with an arrangement of resilient fingers, strips, brushes, or lips that form a channel in which balls are held when they are adjacent to the arms. These fingers, etc. channel balls along the arms towards a conveyor mechanism located within the main body as the ball retriever is pushed forward.
(8) U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,991 to Chen et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,991—issued to Chen et al. on Apr. 12, 1994 in U.S. class 294 and subclass 19.2—teaches a ball retrieving and storage cart generally including a wheeled carriage that rollingly supports a basket in a ball retrieving position. In an exemplary embodiment, the basket has a front end and a rear end and includes a bottom wall having two side members oriented front to rear and having a normal position spaced-apart less than the ball diameter and defining a slotted aperture for entrance of a ball into the basket. In the ball retrieval position, at least one of the side members is a slanted member having a front end higher from the ground than a ball radius and a rear end lower to the ground than the ball radius. At least one of the side members is a deflectable member, and is biased to the normal position but is sideways deflectable so that a ball on the ground entering the aperture sideways deflects the deflectable member sufficiently for the ball to pass into the basket. The wheels may define a rolling plane. The carriage includes a vertical frame member terminating in a push handle, and the vertical frame member includes brackets for attaching a moveable basket at a serving position higher that is than the ball retrieving position.
(9) U.S. Pat. No. 6,340,188 to Cuti.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,340,188—issued to Cuti on Jan. 22, 2002 in U.S. class 294 and subclass 19.2—teaches a tennis ball retriever and multi-purpose tennis ball hopper and caddy that holds all of the tennis equipment used during play and practice. The retriever utilizes a hopper portion incorporating a pair of opening spaces with a plurality of fingers formed therein for permitting tennis balls to pass into the hopper. The retriever includes a small storage unit for valuables and for new and practice tennis balls. The carrying handle is retractable thereby taking up less space than conventional tennis hoppers.
(10) United States Patent Application Publication Number 2006/0082171 to Olmstead.
United States Patent Application Publication Number 2006/0082171—published to Olmstead on Apr. 20, 2006 in U.S. class 294 and subclass 19.2—teaches a ball pickup hopper on supporting wheels, which has a bottom panel contoured with channels extending from a front of the hopper to the supporting wheels. Extending forward of the hopper are opposing left and a right herding rails directing balls in front of the apparatus into the channels as the apparatus is moved over a ground surface. The supporting wheels are positioned and adapted for receiving balls moving through the channels, compressively rotating and lifting the balls between the supporting wheels and the hopper, and expelling the balls into the hopper through openings. A top cover is fitted to enclose the hopper, and to alternately, act as a base for supporting the hopper at an appropriate height for use in ball practice.
(11) United States Patent Application Publication Number 2011/0262259 to Zats.
United States Patent Application Publication Number 2011/0262259—published to Zats on Oct. 27, 2011 in U.S. class 414 and subclass 800—teaches an increased capacity portable retriever for collecting and dispensing tennis balls utilized on a flat surface, which includes a horizontally elongated container having a front retrieving section with a top handle, a rear collecting section pivotably supported by two wheels coaxially mounted at a bottom wall, and a front wall dispensing opening with a cover. The front retrieving section contains bottom parallel rods spaced from each other a distance smaller than the tennis ball diameter. The container has horizontal retrieving and vertical dispensing positions. The container includes a compartment capacity regulating element for dispensing balls individually. First method of retrieving, collecting, and dispensing tennis balls includes repetitive transferring a substantial group of balls from the retrieving section towards the collecting section. Second method includes cyclical reducing the container compartment capacity correspondingly to a volume of balls group resided in the compartment after dispensing a comfortably reachable balls portion from the container.
It is apparent that numerous innovations for tennis ball throwers and retrievers have been provided in the prior art, which are adapted to be used. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, nevertheless, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the embodiments of the present invention as heretofore described.